


Bury My Heart Next to Yours

by ChelleLeigh1917



Category: The White Queen (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-07
Updated: 2013-10-07
Packaged: 2017-12-28 16:29:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/994084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChelleLeigh1917/pseuds/ChelleLeigh1917
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One of the worst things about his time in purgatory had been the separation from Anne. He'd always thought she would be with him, and over a century without her had been much, much too long.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bury My Heart Next to Yours

When he'd still lived, Richard had read that no eye could see and no ear had heard the wonders of Heaven. Newly released after a century spent in purgatory, Richard knew the words to be true. There had been so many reunions with loved ones; his parents (especially good to spend time with his father), his siblings (including those who had died in childhood), his brother Edward (and that had not been the happiest of reunions), his friends, his own children. A grown up Ned who reminded him so much of Anne that it made his heartache. He'd even seen his sister-in-law, who still waited for his errant brother George, but of Anne he saw nothing. It was disconcerting to stay the least. He'd always expected Anne to be by his side, and at first could not imagine why she was not. Then he remembered the last months of her life, how they'd grown apart through their grief, the sins he'd paid for, that she'd doubted him, and that doubt had been his fault. Surely she knew the truth of it all now?

In the end, it was Ned who had taken pity upon his father. Ned, whose only memories of his parents were from when they'd been happy together, had been shocked when his mother had refused to see his father. When Richard found where Anne was, he could not help but notice how much it reminded him of their beloved Middleham. The surrounding countryside was much like the northern moors, and the castle seemed to be a smaller version of Middleham. As Richard walked inside, he could not help but see more similarities. The tapestries looked much like the ones which had decorated Middleham. He looked first in the solar for her, but found it empty. Then he realized exactly where she would be. The small presence chamber which, at Middleham, had been part of their private chambers. He found her in those chambers, an emroidery frame in front of her, just as it often would have been in life. He stood in the doorway for a moment, looking at her. One of the worst things about his time in purgatory had been the separation from Anne. He'd always thought she would be with him, and over a century without her had been much, much too long. 

Anne had realized the moment Richard had walked into the room. She honestly could not fathom what he was doing here. Why would he even want to see her? He'd seemingly forgotten about her easily enough once she was dead. She knew why he'd been in Purgatory, his actions with Elizabeth, his own niece. She was quiet, ignoring him, hoping that perhaps he would give up and go away. She should have known better though, for Richard Plantagenet had never given up on anything he truly wanted, and she more than anyone should have realized that. 

Sensing Anne was not going to break the silence, Richard finally spoke. "Anne." He said softly.

She glanced up from her embroidery. "Richard." She said very softly. She watched as he walked towards her. Somewhere deep within her, she had to admit she'd missed him. She had no intention of telling him that though. "Why did you come?" She asked softly. 

"Why do you think?" He said just as softly. 

Despite herself, Anne smiled. "Once, when we still lived, you said those words to me, and I believed the answer to be because you loved me."

"And it was." He replied. 

She looked up at him, her eyes searching his. Looking into his eyes, she saw only sincerity, and something else, something she was not ready to name. She looked down at her embroidery for a moment. "I will say perhaps it was true then. Perhaps at that moment of our lives, you did love me." 

"I always loved you." He said softly. 

Anne could hear the sincerity in his voice, that and the knowledge that one could not lie in Heaven, kept her quiet for a moment as she processed his words. Finally, she looked up. "Then explain to me what happened with Elizabeth." 

Richard took a deep breath, glancing around the room for a moment. "When you were alive." He said very softly. "It was nothing, only a ploy to break Tudor's support." 

Anne sat her embroidery aside. "Did you not realize...." She shook her head for a moment. "How could you not realize how much that was hurting me?"

Richard took a step towards her. "Anne...."

"No, Richard answer the question." She replied. 

"I thought we would have time." He said softly. "Tudor would be defeated, and then everything, most of all us, could go back to normal." 

Anne closed her eyes. "You deserted me, you deserted my bed the moment you had her brought to court." 

"What was happening with her, it had to seem real to those who would support Tudor because of her." He said softly. 

Anne turned to look at him. "Are you even listening to yourself? How can you justify it?" 

"I cannot, I can only tell you the direction my thoughts took at that time." 

After a moment, Anne nodded. "And after my death?" She asked, watching his eyes close as she said the word death. 

"I was broken." He confessed. "I had nothing, you and our boy...both gone. All that was left was the crown, and it was hollow, so hollow, meaningless truly." 

"You bedded her then." She said softly. 

"I used her to forget." He confessed. "I'm not proud of that." 

"Nor should you be." She said softly. "As that is why you spent the time in Purgatory."

Richard nodded. "In part." 

"In part?" She asked. 

"The other part was the pain I caused you at the end." He murmured. 

Anne closed her eyes. "I would have never demanded retribution." She said softly. 

"I vowed to love and honor you, and at the end I did not honor you." He said softly. "Then I went on to dishonor my own brother's child." Richard rubbed his jaw, where Edward had punched him. 

Anne walked over to him, her hand reaching out and touching his. "Edward did it then? He punched you?" 

"Yes." He nodded. 

"Hmmm, he always said he would." She laughed softly. Of course Edward had only arrived from Purgatory shortly before Richard, and his wife, well Anne imagined she was still in Purgatory. 

"He seems to feel better now." Richard said ruefully. He reached out to touch her, relieved when Anne did not break away. "What do you need?" He said softly. "What do you need for things to be right between us? Whatever it is, you will have it." 

"You truly love me?" She said very softly. 

Richard tilted her chin up, so she was looking up at him. "Everyday of my life and for all of eternity." He said very softly. 

Anne took a deep breath. "Then I have all that I need." She wrapped her arms around his waist, and burIed her head against his shoulder. 

Richard closed his eyes, relieved she was finally in his arms. During those last months of his life, after she was gone, when he'd been half awake and half asleep, he'd often imagined that he felt her snuggled against him. Upon awakening though, he'd realize anew that his Anne was truly gone. 

Anne smiled against his shoulder. "And I love you the same." She murmured. 

"That I have never doubted." He whispered. Anne looked up at him, and his breath caught at the radiance of her smile. 

"Come husband." She murmured, taking his hand, and starting towards what he instinctively knew was the bedchamber. 

"And can we truly..."

"We are husband and wife, joined together for all eternity. Death has not parted us in any manner." She said softly. "Not anymore." 

Richard pulled her tightly to him. "Then we have much time to make up for." He murmured against her hair, which he was removing from its braids. 

"At least a century." She murmured.


End file.
